nab meaning (informal): definition, etymology and quotations

nab

verb

/næb/

Etymology From dialectal nap (“to seize, lay hold of”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Swedish nappa (“to pluck, pinch”). Related to Danish nappe (“to tweak, snatch at, catch, seize”), Swedish nappa (“to take, grab, pinch”), Norwegian Bokmål nappe (“to grab, snatch, pluck, yank”).

Informal To seize, arrest or take into custody (a criminal or fugitive).

As I was going out of the door, a fellow detective came hurriedly in. "Nabbed them," cried he.1887, Anna Katharine Green, 7 to 12, A Detective Story, G. P. Putnam's Sons, page 2
Their target: a drug kingpin who reportedly keeps millions of dollars in his fortress of a compound. Pope has been working for years to nab this baddie, and sincerely wants to stop his reign of terror,)2019 July 3, Mike D'Angelo, “Oscar Isaac and Ben Affleck blunder through a heavy heist in J.C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 21 Nov 2019:

Informal To grab or snatch something.

Internet To steal or copy another user's post.

Synonyms: nick, bust, cop
Derived terms: hab or nab, kidnap, nabber, nabman, nab the rust, tabnabbing, unnabbed

nab

noun

Etymology Compare knap, knop, knob.

The summit of a hill.

At Clayton point and other nabs to the south of Scarborough.1828, George Young, A Geological Survey of the Yorkshire Coast:
‘I thought I heard my father,’ he gasped, glancing up to the frowning nab above us. ‘You are sure nobody spoke?’1847, Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights:

The cock of a gunlock.

The Toe, or Nab of the Bolt, which rises[…]above the Straight on the Top of the Bolt: The Office of this Nab, is to receive the Bottom of the Bit of the Key, when in turning it about, it shoots the Bolt backward or forwards.1677–1683, Joseph Moxon, “(please specify the page)”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1678–1683, →OCLC:

The keeper, or box into which the lock is shot.

the Bottom of the Bit may fall almost to the Bottom of the Nab , and shoot the Bolt back1703, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises:

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